1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to mounting arrangements for printed circuit cards or boards in electrical systems and more particularly to connecting and supporting printed circuit cards of different sizes within a card cage or rack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is common in present day electronic equipment to utilize modular construction wherein, circuit components are mounted on printed circuit cards, which in turn are held in enclosures such as racks or cages, such as the racks and cages illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,184,069; 3,360,689; 3,716,760 and 3,733,523. Presently most known racks or cages come in fixed sizes which are not easily adaptable to accommodate various sizes of printed circuit cards or utilize a building block type of construction requiring substantial manufacturing labor. U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,069 teaches a card cage which can be adjusted to hold printed circuit cards of different sizes, but is limited to holding cards which are all the same size within the entire cage. Other cages such as the one taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,523, are adapted to accept printed circuit cards of different sizes within the same cage, but require the maintenance of substantial numbers of guide support members and ultimately substantial manufacturing labor to produce.
While the above noted patents do teach mounting of printed circuit cards of different sizes, it is desirable in certain situations to accommodate at least two different sized circuit cards within the full size card environment in a simpler and more efficient manner not present in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is the principle object of this invention to provide an easily manufactured connector and associated support device which can be mouunted to a full size circuit card cage and provide for the electrical connnection and support of various sizes of circuit cards at any position normally occupied by a single standard sized printed circuit card.